Is Lady Gaga going straight?

IT was always going to be the ultimate gimmick for the eccentric Lady Gaga.
With every visceral taboo broken, from meat dress to climbing inside a womb on stage, the 25-year-old had nowhere to do. Except, of course, to the one area that no-one would ever expect, that of chic normality. And for the second day in LA, as she arrived at a recording studio, she did just that.

Gaga, real name Stefani Germanotta, donned an elegant long black dress that clung to her dainty frame in all the right places. With a beehive that evoked a blonde Audrey Heburn, the whole outfit was very Breakfast at Tiffany’s, down to the large diamanté earrings.

We’re so used to seeing Lady Gaga step out in something original and outrageous that we almost didn’t recognise her yesterday. But it seems like the new elegant New Yorker may be here to stay. –DM

Lady Gaga pay tribute to Amy Winehouse

Lady Gaga: Amy Winehouse "Changed Pop Music Forever"

Feeling a special bond in that she had someone to draw hope from, Lady Gaga has taken to Twitter to pay tribute to Amy Winehouse.

With the message coming on Sunday (July 24), the day after Miss Winehouse's body was found at her London home, Gaga wrote, "Amy changed pop music forever, I remember knowing there was hope, and feeling not alone because of her."

"She lived jazz, she lived the blues," Lady Gaga added of her departed fellow musician - of whom she had the utmost respect.

Along with Gaga, numerous other stars have continued to send out messages regarding the tragic situation, with a few of the many farewell messages below:

Demi Lovato: "Amy Winehouse.. So sad. Unfortunately the world lost an incredibly talented woman to such a powerful disease... addiction."

Kelly Osbourne: "i cant even breath right my now im crying so hard i just lost 1 of my best friends. i love you forever Amy & will never forget the real you!"

LeAnn Rimes: "RIP Amy Winehouse. So sad to see such a talent gone and her life end in tragedy. This makes me terribly sad."

Kim Kardashian: "I just heard the news that Amy Winehouse passed away. What a true talent. I pray she's in a better place & at peace."

Lady Gaga's website hacked

Pop star Lady Gaga called in police after her website was hacked, resulting in the theft of thousands of names and email addresses.Mirror.co.uk reports that Gaga's Britain website was hacked by US cyber attackers SwagSec, prompting her record label Universal to take urgent action.

"She's upset and hopes police get to the bottom of how this was allowed to happen," said a source.

The cyber attack happened on June 27 but those responsible didn't make the information public until this week.The hackers, who also issued a death threat against the singer, bizarrely branded her homophobic.

"The hackers took a content database dump from www.ladygaga.co.uk and a section of email, first name and last name records were accessed. There were no passwords or financial information taken," said a spokesperson from Universal label.

"We take this very seriously and have put in place additional measures to protect personally identifiable information. All those affected have been advised," the source added.

SwagSec have also targeted other Universal artists recently including Amy Winehouse and Justin Bieber.

Anger over Lady Gaga wheelchair stunt at Sydney

Lady GaGa has become the target of American disability campaigners.
On Wednesday, the 'Edge of Glory' singer performed in a wheelchair while at a secret gig in Sydney, Australia. The stunt angered disability campaigners in the US, who accused GaGa of using the chair for "shock value", WENN reports.

"Since this isn't the first time she has used a wheelchair in her performances, I invite her to learn more about the 5.6 million Americans who live with paralysis," said Jesse Billauer, founder of the Life Rolls On Foundation. "They, like me, unfortunately, don't use a wheelchair for shock value."

GaGa previously took to a wheelchair in the music video for her hit song 'Paparazzi'.

Billauer went on to invite the singer to come to a future event hosted by Life Rolls On where she could learn more about living with disabilities.

"I extend a personal invitation to Lady GaGa to attend one of our Life Rolls On events where quadriplegics and paraplegics surf, skate, and snowboard, so she can see how much is possible beyond a wheelchair." Billauer said. "Maybe that will be most shocking to her of all."

GaGa was pelted with eggs as she left a nightclub in Sydney in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The singer's official YouTube account was suspended earlier amid copyright claims.

Lady GaGa is interested in adopting an Asian Baby

Lady GaGa is allegedly determined to become a mother by the time that she is 30.

According to reports, the singer is planning to adopt a baby from Asia with or without her boyfriend Luc Carl.

At a bar in New York last year, the couple were apparently overheard talking about starting a family.

Sources have claimed that the 25-year-old declared that she wanted "lots of babies", before Carl replied: "No, I don't want any more than two."

However, friends of GaGa have said that she is looking to adopt from India, Nepal or Bangladesh.

An insider told Now: "She's always had a fascination and love affair with Asian culture.

"She's even sworn she'll learn the language of the country her baby's from before it can speak. She wants to be a mum by the time she hits 30 and she'll do it with or without Luc. She's got enough money to do it on her own, so why not?"

GaGa recently insisted that she would never look for love and instead waits for situations to come to her.

Lady GaGa 'wants to act in Bollywood movie'

Lady GaGa has announced that she would like to be part of a Bollywood film.

The performer told Hindustan Times that if she was approached to feature in a song and dance sequence in an Indian production, she would accept.

GaGa revealed: "I have seen a few Bollywood films and I love how theatrical they are, and that's my favourite part - that they are so surreal and full of fantasy."

When questioned about her favourite film, the star refused to name a specific project, saying:
"I couldn't name any one in particular, I like so many."

GaGa would also not confirm her favourite stars from the world of Hindi cinema.

"Again I have so many actors and actresses that I love in India and I couldn't just name one," she explained. "I am just looking forward to getting to know them better."

The singer recently posed for photos with actor and former Miss World Priyanka Chopra, after a gig at Madison Square Garden.

GaGa's 'Born This Way' and 'Judas' have both released in Bollywood remix versions.

Lady Gaga loves Asian fashion, culture

SINGAPORE:American pop sensation Lady Gaga said on Thursday, June 7, that she loves to wear clothes by Asian designers and likes the region’s culture, speaking during a swing through Singapore.

“I love Asian culture and I love all of the designers here in Asia,” she said during a news conference in the city-state ahead of a private event. “Actually, as I have been travelling to Asia, I’ve been wearing mostly Asian designers. It’s always important to know wherever you go to find the young talent, that’s my favourite thing.”

Asked to name the designers, the 25-year-old star said it would “take me a very long time” to do so.
She also spoke about her latest album titled Born This Way. “The album is my baby,” said Gaga, who sported a beige dress, white gloves, dark glasses and thick platform shoes. “I spent almost two years writing it, and I wrote it while on tour,” she said, adding that the songs of the album were inspired by her fans.
“The album is about being yourself, about who you are and being proud,” said the singer, famous for her outlandish costumes. The diva, ranked this year’s most powerful celebrity by Forbes magazine, also described herself as a woman who “lives halfway between reality and fantasy at all times”.

She promised her legions of fans that she would be back in Singapore next year as part of an Asian tour.

Lady GaGa celebrates Lady GaGa Day in Taiwan

Lady GaGa has celebrated the first ever Lady GaGa Day in Taiwan.

The 'Edge of Glory' singer performed her first concert in Taiwan on Sunday, July 3, which was designated Lady GaGa Day by officials at Taiching City Hall.

GaGa was presented with the keys to the city at a press conference in the morning, alongside a portrait of herself by a local artist. A group of local children also performed a traditional dance at the ceremony.

"These gifts are so overwhelmingly thoughtful and generous," she told the audience. "I will cherish them forever and always remember today."

GaGa, who is on a five-day promotional tour of Taiwan, later performed in front of thousands of fans at the Taichung Arena, with thousands more watching the performance via a big screen outside, according to the China Post.

GaGa posted on Twitter before the show: "Taiwan rolled my hair + put my lipstick on, in the glass of her boudoir. Here GAGA means "love for all,"

Lady Gaga wows Taiwan, vows Asia tour next year

TAIPEI: Lady Gaga promised her legions of fans on Monday that she would be back to hold an Asian tour next year, after thousands of "Little Monsters" turned out for her first-ever performance in Taiwan.

The American pop star, dressed in typically flamboyant style in a black suit and a wig with three white roses attached, said she had been taken aback by the huge crowd that came to hear her in the central city of Taichung on Sunday.

It had officially been declared "Lady Gaga Day" in her honour, with 6,000 people packed into an open air theatre on a humid night and another 40,000 watching on a huge screen outside.

Organisers had previously expected a turnout of 4,000 fans -- known as "Little Monsters" -- at the gathering, which was part of a promotional tour of Taiwan for her new album "Born This Way".

The 25-year-old diva, ranked this year's most powerful celebrity by Forbes magazine, is among the most popular international entertainers in Taiwan and her visit made the front pages of major newspapers.

She was to leave Taiwan late Monday, one day earlier than scheduled, organisers said. She takes in Singapore next. (AFP)

Lady Gaga wows Taiwan on first visit

TAIPEI: Pop diva Lady Gaga arrived in Taiwan on Friday to kick off her first visit to the island, sporting a long black and gold wig and blowing kisses to the delight of fans.

 AFP Photo

Several cable news channels broadcast live as Lady Gaga got off her private jet and walked towards the waiting media before posing briefly for photos.

Fans outside the hotel where she is staying in Taipei donned colorful wigs, tight dresses and platform shoes as they waited for a glimpse of their idol.

The singer is due to perform on Sunday in central Taichung city, which has declared the day “Lady Gaga Day” in honour of her highly-anticipated first performance in Taiwan, officials said.

The 25-year-old singer, ranked this year’s most powerful celebrity by Forbes magazine, is among the most popular international entertainers in Taiwan.

The concert, which will be attended by 4,000 fans, is part of a five-day promotional tour of Taiwan.

Lady GaGa fined over French fan chaos

Lady GaGa has been fined by French police for disturbing the peace after whipping fans into a frenzy during an appearance in Paris.

The 'Edge Of Glory' singer hung out the window of her luxury suite at the Park Hyatt hotel and dropped a flurry of roses onto the screaming crowd below.

However, Parisian authorities have now reprimanded the Born This Way star for her antics on Thursday morning and demanded a fee for the distress caused to local residents.

"Hotel bosses tried to get her to come in because of the frenzy she was creating outside but she didn't listen so the police turned up and fined her," a source told The Sun. "She was like a woman possessed. You know what she's like with her fans."

GaGa recently stated that she enjoyed having an "influence and impact' on fans, saying: "I think now, the fame is not so much about the attention and the cameras... [The fans are] what's most important to me - now that I am here, what am I gonna do?"

GaGa has also vowed to learn sign language in order to communicate with deaf fans.

Priyanka Chopra excited about Gaga’s concert

MUMBAI: International pop icon Lady Gaga is set to come to India on a three-city tour, much to the excitement of her many fans, including the Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra.

Priyanka is quite kicked about Gaga performing in Mumbai. In February this year, Priyanka had personally met Lady Gaga after attending her concert at the Madison Square Garden in New York. Priyanka had asked Lady Gaga to come to India.

Now that Priyanka’s wish is coming true, the actress is excited about meeting the singer.

Lady Gaga dances away in over-exposed nude bodysuit and Gstring

Lady Gaga was spotted in an over-exposed bodysuit that covered only her nipple and a G-string to protect her modesty at the CFDA Fashion Awards after-party.

After accidentally exposing her nipples as she arrived at the fashion awards, Gaga had removed her conservatively custom-made Mugler gown for the revealing bodysuit at the bash at the Standard hotel in New York, reports the Daily Mail.

The Poker Face singer who was named ‘Fashion Icon’ at the CFDA Fashion Awards hours was clearly in high spirits as she danced away beside the DJ booth.

The singer had teamed her shocking outfit with a more sensible pair of high heels, however.

Lady GaGa heading to Bollywood

Lady GaGa has announced plans to bring her music to India.

The performer has said that she would like to expand into the South Asian territory by collaborating with Bollywood remix teams, Wall Street Journal reports.

"The reason I'm going to India now is because I can," she told the newspaper. "I didn't have the money or the resources before to travel and bring all of my things with me and reach an entire new territory of fans."

GaGa is reportedly keen to tap into the Indian market, with its population of more than 700 million people under the age of 30.

The singer has worked on two Bollywood remixes of 'Judas', by Indian film composers Salim and Sulaiman, and another by Bhangra artist Panjabi MC.

The star's 'Born This Way' single was earlier released as a Bollywood remix in April.

Lady Gaga album sells 1.1m copies in first week

Flamboyant pop star Lady Gaga has sold more than one million copies of her new album to top the U.S. pop chart for the first time, according to sales data published on Tuesday by Billboard magazine.

Fans scooped up 1.11 million copies of her much-hyped release "Born This Way" during the week ended May 29, with a bit of help from a hugely popular 99-cent promotion by online retailer Amazon.com Inc .

It marks the biggest first-week sales total since rapper 50 Cent's "The Massacre" debuted to 1.14 million copies in March 2005. The last album to break the million mark was country starlet Taylor Swift's "Speak Now," which started with 1.01 million copies last November. Boy band 'N Sync holds the first-week record with 2.4 million copies for its 2000 album "No Strings Attached."

Billboard estimated that Amazon downloads accounted for upward of 440,000 downloads of "Born This Way." Overall digital downloads totaled a record-breaking 662,000 copies, Billboard said.

Lady Gaga records for Interscope Records, a unit of Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group. Her 2008 debut album "The Fame" peaked at No. 2 and has sold 4.2 million copies to date in the United States. An eight-track follow-up EP titled "The Fame Monster" reached No. 5 and has sold 1.5 million copies.

Lady Gaga hunting for Iglesias look-alike?

Pop star Lady Gaga is apparently hunting for Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias' look-alike to star in her forthcoming video.

Gaga is preparing to shoot the promo for her new single, "The Edge of Glory", this weekend and the casting bosses are hunting for a suitable match for her to kiss in it.

According to the notice, obtained by E! Online, the star wants an attractive, "Puerto Rican or Dominican type bada**... who must be willing to kiss Lady Gaga...think Enrique Iglesias."

Lady Gaga's promotional blitz for new album offers new business model

NEW YORK, The release of a pop star's album usually comes with the typical cross-marketing splash — strategic magazine covers, a few major TV appearances, and perhaps a cosmetics or fashion deal to remind the public a new project awaits.


Yet the social media-powered blitz connected to this week's drop of Lady Gaga's third album, "Born This Way," is bordering on epic, with partnerships ranging from Starbucks to FarmVille, and virtual giveaways of the album's 17 tracks. It also represents the kind of bold, new business model that could help rejuvenate a deflated music industry.


Gaga already had a slew of magazine covers, from Rolling Stone to Vogue, and appeared on every high profile show, from Oprah Winfrey to "American Idol" to "Saturday Night Live," as well as her own HBO concert special.


But she hasn't stopped there. Starbucks — typically home to easy-on-the-ears artists like Emmylou Harris — is selling her album as well as launching a "digital scavenger hunt" for Gaga-inspired goods; Google Chrome debuted a commercial with Gaga with a track from the album; the online fashion outlet Gilt Groupe partnered with Gaga to offer Gaga-inspired clothing and VIP performances; Best Buy is giving away the album to anyone who purchases a mobile phone with a contract; and Zynga, creator of the popular online game "FarmVille," created "GagaVille," which allowed fans access to exclusive Gaga songs.


As if that wasn't enough, on Monday, Amazon.com sold "Born This Way" for just 99 cents as a promotion for their new music cloud service, creating a demand so strong it disrupted the online retailing giant's servers for a time.


And it looks like the campaigns are paying off: Gaga's album is estimated to sell anywhere between a half-million to a million copies when the top album charts are revealed next week.
"It was really about expanding the distribution on this album and going into as many non-traditional retail partnerships and non-traditional marketing partnerships as possible," Gaga's manager, Troy Carter, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "Just with the diminishing music labels, you want to find quality partners where you know you can reach new audiences and being able to push boundaries as well."

Among the promotions connected with "Born This Way" is the Disney Mobile Tapulous game Tap Tap Revenge, which gives fans access to the entire album and other content if they buy the game,"Born This Way Revenge," for $4.99. It's the first time Tapulous has put out 17 tracks with a game for that price.


Tim O'Brien, vice-president of business development at Disney Mobile, said this was the third deal with Gaga, resulting in the total sale of five million songs so far.
While they've worked with other pop artists with their Tap Tap Revenge app, he said Gaga — who has 10 million followers on Twitter and was recently crowned Forbes' most influential celebrity in part because of her tens of millions of followers online — is an act with unique appeal.


"I've never seen anything as powerful as when Gaga hits her social media channels compared to anyone else that we've worked with," he said. "I've never seen anything like it in terms of how she's utilizing social media."


In pop history, there have been plenty of attention-grabbing publicity campaigns for debuting albums: Who can forget the huge statues Jackson had erected of himself and placed across the world for his "HIStory" album, or when the Backstreet Boys hit six continents in four days to promote "Black and Blue"? Then there was Jay-Z, who performed in seven cities in 17-hours for his comeback album, "Kingdom Come."


But Bill Werde, editorial director of Billboard, calls Gaga's promotional efforts "more of a landmark campaign" for the new music industry.
"There's nothing about Gaga that's subtle, so I don't see why her marketing campaign would be any different," he added.


One of the more unusual promotions was Amazon's decision to sell the MP3 version of Gaga's album for 99 cents on Monday, the day of its release, as part of its Amazon Cloud Drive, which gives consumers personal digital storage space on a remote network or cloud; 20 gigabytes of cloud space came with the album. However, there was such a demand it caused delays for Amazon's customers, a spokeswoman said.


Though some people questioned the decision to basically give the album away, Carter wasn't concerned at all, calling the promotional idea "incredible."
"I am more concerned about piracy and people stealing the music. If you can get somebody to experience the music at that sort of price for one day only, I think it gets a lot of attention for the album," he added.


Werde said that's key in an age where album sales are deflated and serve more as a promotional tool for the artist's other money-making projects, including touring, in an industry more focused on what is called the 360-model of generating revenue.


"It's one of first big superstar releases that really grasps the potential of the new music business that everybody is talking about," he said. "For a superstar artist like a Gaga, the sale of recorded music — not the quality of the music, mind you, but the sale of recorded music— really gets sort of assumed as a marketing cost to drive this 360-engine."


Carter says his data indicates Gaga may sell over 500,000 copies in the first week, and perhaps 700,000; Werde said "Born This Way" could go as high as one million.
But Carter says the unique marketing tools used leading up to and during the album's release wasn't just to achieve monster sales for the album's debut.


"Nobody ever pays attention in the second week," he said. "For us it's about being in this album cycle for the next 18 to 24 months."
It seems Gaga-mania won't be easing anytime soon. Source: The Canadian Press

Lady Gaga hatches new album, to mixed reviews

Pop provocateur Lady Gaga unveils her second full-length album this week, three years after taking the music world by storm -- but while sales will likely be huge, early reviews are mixed.

True to her social media-friendly form, the 25-year-old is releasing "Born This Way" in unconventional style by posting some songs on online social game Farmville ahead of Monday's launch, as well as other singles already issued.

The title track was released in February, shortly before Gaga -- real name Joanne Angelina Germanotta -- caused a storm by turning up inside a giant translucent egg at the music industry's annual Grammys awards show.

"I want to celebrate and share 'Born This Way' with my little monsters in a special way that's never been done before," Gaga said of the release of excerpts on her in-game "GagaVille" farm last week.

Her "little monsters" are the legions of fans who worship the star, whose hit singles from her first album, "The Fame," included "Bad Romance," "Paparazzi" and "Poker Face."

Gaga has sold over 15 million albums and 51 million singles worldwide, won five Grammys and was included in Time's list of the most influential people and the top 10 of Forbes' world's "100 Most Powerful Women," her website says.

Compared by some to chameleon-like pop legends David Bowie and Madonna, she has rocketed into the pop stratosphere despite only having made one full-length album, "The Fame" in 2008, followed by 2009's eight-track "The Fame Monster."

So the spotlight on her new record is intense.

But despite a massive publicity blitz and the likelihood that her fans will buy it in huge numbers whatever critics say, pre-release reviews have been decidedly mixed.

Britain's Guardian newspaper gave it four out of five stars, lauding Gaga as "the most exciting, confounding and mind-bogglingly creative artist on planet pop," while MTV talked about the album's 14 "darkly sumptuous tracks."

But Entertainment Weekly, noting that the album has leaked online already, called in "an inconsistent blend of icy techno-pop and greeting-card empowerment that's more a triumph of production than songwriting."

The LA Times sniffed: "Say what you want about Lady Gaga, but nuance is not one of her strong points, nor is musical adventure. She's unsubtle in her message, unsubtle in her dress, and most important, unsubtle aesthetically."

The New York-born star's ability to drive fans into a frenzy is already legendary, helped by her being a leader of the first generation of stars to use social media to connect with her audience.

Last week she became the first person with more than 10 million followers on Twitter, while she was the first artist to top a billion views on video sharing website YouTube.

The singer has quickly become part of the pop star firmament: in April Elton John revealed that he and his partner David Furnish had chosen Lady Gaga to be their newborn baby boy's godmother.

She has also made waves on political issues: in November she used her celebrity platform to press for repeal of a US law forbidding gays from serving openly in the military.

But for all her ubiquity, critics say she should focus on the music.

"If Gaga had only spent as much time on pushing musical boundaries as she has social ones, 'Born This Way' would have been a lot more successful," said the LA Times.

The Washington Post's reviewer was more blunt, lamenting: "Whether by fluke, curse or cosmic coinky-dink, Lady Gaga's new music is everything that she's not. It's boring." (AFP)

Lady GaGa: 'I want to be relevant in 100 years'

Lady GaGa has revealed that she wants to leave behind a legacy.

The 'The Edge of Glory' singer said that she still wants to be "relevant" in 100 years' time.

She told The Mirror: "It's my biggest dream. I'm not really concerned with whether I'm relevant in the year 2011. It's much more important for me to be relevant 100 years from now. I want to leave a big legacy behind."

The 25-year-old, who recently split from her boyfriend Luc Carl, explained that she gets the inspiration from her songs by visiting different places, most recently a German sex club.

She commented: "I wrote 'Scheiße' in Berlin. I had been to a wonderful club called Lab.Oratory. They have these crazy fetish and sex parties there. It really reminded me a lot of all the places I used to appear in as a dancer earlier in New York."

GaGa also admitted that she prefers to be alone when she has spare time.

She added: "On the whole when I have free time I don't tend to do a lot with other people. I like to be alone. That's important for me and it gives me a good balance with the rest of my life. In my profession I am permanently surrounded by so many people. That's why I enjoy being alone so much.

"I get scared sometimes that I will lose myself, that everything could become too much. Luckily there are a lot of people who take good care of me."

Lady GaGa, Oprah, Bieber 'most powerful celebs

Lady GaGa has been declared the most powerful celebrity in the world.

The 'Judas' singer ranked top on Forbes's list of the 100 most powerful celebrities, which takes into account a celebrity's income, social media and web presence, and the amount of press and TV coverage they receive.

GaGa, who earned $90 million (£56m) over the past 12 months, topped the list due to her extensive social media coverage, which includes 32 million Facebook fans and more than 10 million Twitter followers.

Last year's winner Oprah Winfrey fell to second place in 2011. Despite earning $290 million (£180m) over the past year, she notably ended her longrunning talk show Oprah earlier this week.

Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber took third place with his $53 million (£33m) earnings and extensive YouTube and Twitter presence.

The remainder of the top ten in order consists of U2, Elton John, Tiger Woods, Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, Simon Cowell and LeBron James.

Other notable changes include Leonardo DiCaprio's jump from 71 to 15 following the release of two highly successful films over the past year, and Britney Spears somehow managing to drop off the list entirely.

In previous years, the likes of Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson have all been named the most powerful celebrities in the world, while Winfrey herself has won the title four times in the past.